With all the changes in the tobacco world, the one that's really been bothering me(other than an overstepping government) is the Americanization of snus. The American brands are a complete joke, and the Swedes are starting to follow suit. Bold artificial flavor, and cloying sweetness has been the modus operandi so far. Here's a list of the traditional, as well as newer Swedish snus flavors made for the Swedish market...
Tobacco and smoke
Bergamot
Mint
Licorice
Tart berry
Juniper
There's other subtle flavorings, and girl snus tends to have a bit more of it, along with a light sweetness, but for the most part, the flavorings have been complex, and sophisticated.
In contrast, lets look at the traditional, and newer American dip flavors...
Copenhagen We're doing well so far...
Wintergreen Meh, but at least it's adult oriented
Straight Tobacco and sugar
Apple
Berry
Mint
Vanilla
Cherry
Citrus
Peach
It looks like a stop at the candy counter, with Jelly Belly flavors. All have overbearing flavor, and all are sweet, with the notable exception of Copenhagen snuff.
Americans have Four Loko taste in a single malt world. It's time to for us to grow up, and join the rest of the developed world. If you can figure out everything that's going on with a food item within the first few seconds of putting it in your mouth, it probably doesn't have enough going for it to be worth the bother.
In closing, I just ask you to ask yourself this question before buying any product, but especially tobacco products. Would Humphrey Bogart use this? In the case of Skoal Berry, the answer is "of course not". Bogart would be using Copenhagen if he were out of snus, but his preferred product would be Ettan. Lets leave the kid stuff for the kids :^)
If everyone were like everyone else for the sake of uniformity, this would be a boring world indeed!